KU Jayhawks at Baylor Bears: prediction, bet line, TV for Saturday’s football game
Even in defeat the past two weeks, Kansas’ football team has exhibited traits second-year coach Lance Leipold deems critical in building a winning program.
“One is that we will battle for 60 minutes. I’m proud of that,” Leipold said earlier this week at a news conference to preview Saturday’s Big 12 contest between the Baylor Bears (3-3, 1-2 Big 12) and Jayhawks (5-2, 2-2).
Kickoff is 11 a.m. at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas with a live broadcast on ESPN2.
“You get a lot more text messages when you win than you do when you lose. But still, people that watch this football team, that I highly respect and interact with, talk about how this team plays hard and I feel the same way,” Leipold added.
Down 52-35 to Oklahoma following a touchdown by the Sooners with 5:18 to play, the Jayhawks immediately responded by traversing 75 yards in 7 plays (in just 1:47). Tight end Mason Fairchild scored on a wide-open 9-yard pass from Jason Bean as the Jayhawks showed they came to play from start to finish in that 52-42 loss.
The week before, in KU’s first loss of the season, the Jayhawks scored 17 straight points after falling behind 10-0 at home to the Horned Frogs, who won, 38-31.
“To give up that many yards and that many plays (OU had 100 plays) is disappointing,” Leipold said. “And we’ve talked in (interview room) here about our penalties and things like that. We didn’t have any fourth-quarter penalties. I think we did some things that were a step in the right direction. We won the turnover battle (3 for OU; 2 for KU) but not enough, not nearly enough to handle that afternoon.”
KU on Saturday faces a Baylor team that was picked to win the Big 12 Conference. The Jayhawks were picked last in the league.
However, Bears coach Dave Aranda is convinced this KU team is different from ones the Bears have dominated in a 12-game winning streak over the Jayhawks.
BU has outscored KU 578-99 during the 12-game stretch. KU’s last win in the series was in 2007 in Lawrence, a 58-10 decision. BU won last season in Lawrence, 45-7. It was 14-7 at the half.
BU has scored 40 or more points in eight of the 12 games during the streak, including scoring 59 or more points four times.
“We have a really strong opponent coming in with a coach I very much admire and respect, and a team that is believing and playing hard, and it’s going to be a challenge here at our place.” Aranda said earlier in the week at his weekly media session.
Of KU’s offense, which has averaged 40.1 points and 440 yards per game, Aranda said: “Confidence would be the thing. And I think it probably starts in the run game, and just the receivers are blocking, running backs are running hard, all linemen are finishing things.
“And then it just opens up the numbers that you’ve got to get in there to stop all of it. And then it just opens up big plays behind that. We’re going to have to be at our best to defend all of it.”
Baylor’s starting quarterback, Blake Shapen, suffered a concussion in the third quarter of the Bears’ last game, at West Virginia. He returned to practice this week, Aranda said on his mid-week radio show.
Leipold has not given an update on the status of KU QB Jalon Daniels (shoulder) since Tuesday, when he said Daniels had not practiced this week. Bean threw for four touchdowns in last week’s loss at OU after throwing four TD passes in the second half of the TCU game the previous week. Bean replaced Daniels who was hurt in the second quarter vs. TCU.
Baylor is favored by 9.5 points Saturday.
Prediction: Baylor 35, Kansas 31.
Last game prediction: Kansas 44, Oklahoma 29 (actual OU 52, KU 42).
2022 record on picks: 4-3.
2022 record vs. spread: 3-4.
This story was originally published October 21, 2022 at 9:49 AM.
